Common malfunctions in lift stations

Lift stations play an incredibly important role when it comes to managing wastewater and sewage. In many ways, they’re the heart of a municipal water infrastructure. However, just like anything mechanical – they’re not immune to the occasional hiccup or malfunction. 

Today, we’re going to talk about some of the common malfunctions you may encounter and how digital control panels and remote digital monitoring can help. Let’s jump right in!

Wear and tear

Let’s be straight-forward, here: lift stations take a beating. They transport sewage from lower to higher elevation and the more wastewater flows through, the higher the likelihood something bad happens. Like we said above – wear and tear is just part of the deal when it comes to anything mechanical, so it’s important to stay on top of things like routine maintenance. Purchasing a digital control panel can help you begin to see cracks between the creases and be able to address these sorts of issues before they spiral.

Electrical issues

Problems with electrical components of a lift station can occur. Perhaps the install was shoddy. Sometimes there are wiring defaults. Sometimes settings aren’t proper. All of these can lead to a pump failure. The most effective way to stay ahead of this problem is to make sure whomever is handling the digital components of your lift stations is performing ongoing maintenance and has a strong reputation for quality installs. Most electrical issues stem from issues from installs, so be on top of it. And as is the natural order of the world – sometimes stuff just stops working. Again – having a professional checking in should minimize the risk of this happening as much as possible.

Clogs, debris accumulation and the like

People are pretty careless about what ends up getting flushed down a toilet or thrown down a garbage disposal and over time, various orts, debris and detritus is bound to build up. When they do this can cause backups in the water flow and sometimes blockages. Other times, it can lead to float switches becoming jammed or stuck because too much stuff has piled up. These sorts of issues are something a digital control panel will pick up – but make sure you’re on top of it. It doesn’t take much for a minor backup to turn into a larger problem. 

At the end of the day, you should be doing three things regularly:

• Make sure there’s regular cleaning and inspection to prevent major issues
• Make sure you also schedule electrical system inspections and maintenance
• Make sure spot checks on things like float switches and their alignment is done by your staff
• And that you periodically test backup systems so that you know in the event of the worst – that you’ll be prepared

We hope you found today’s blog helpful! If you need any help with your digital control panel or lift station, give us a call today and we’ll be happy to help. Until then, good luck!